Improvement in car-couplings



F. F. TAYLOR 8; G. W ITHINGTON.

Gar-Couplings.

N0.142,962. PatentedSeptemberlG,187-3.

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Vitness J4. gy I dflhifm UNITED STATE$ PATENT QFFIG'E.

FRANK F. TAYLOR, OF sAN FRANCISCO, AND GEORGE WITHINGTON, 0F IONE CITY, c LIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CA R-CQUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 142,962, dated September 16,1873; application filed March 12, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, FRANK F. TAYLOR, of San Francisco city and county, and GEORGE WITHINGTON, of Ione city, Amador county, State of California, have invented Improvements in Safety Oar-Couplings; and we do hereby declare the following description and accompanying drawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use our said invention or improvement without further invention or experiment.

Our improvements relate to that class of self-acting car-couplin gs which are known as safety car-couplings, and more particularly to a coupling for which Letters Patent have heretofore been granted to us, in which a bumper having a lifting-lid is employed to allow the entering-link to'pass over the upper end of a horn or permanent catch, and which in case of accident, such as one car of a train jumping the track, or any like unusual movement, allows the link to free itself from the horn or catch, and thus detach the car from the remainder of the train. Our present improvement consists of a spring presser-bar attachment for holding the hinged lid steady when it is down, and which is provided with a short catch or hook at its extremity which engages with a recess in the lid, so as to hold it in an open position when it is raised.

In order to more fully illustrate and explain our invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of the coup- 'ling with thelid down. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the lid raised, and Fig. 3 are detail views of the lid and lever.

A represents the draw-bar, and B the bumper. O is the hinged lid, which covers the open upper side of the recess in the end of the bumper, into which the link enters. This lid as shown in our former application was simply hinged to the rear end of the bumper back of the recess, so as to drop down and cover the upper open side of the recess, its own weight serving to hold it in place. In order to prevent any rattling or jumping of this lid, which might be occasioned by the ordinary jolting of the car as it passes Over the track, we have hinged a slight pressure.

spring-lever, E, to the draw-bar back of the lid, which will bear upon the lid and exert a suflicient pressure to hold it steadily in place. In order to attach this lever to the draw-bar we make a recess, f, in the draw-bar back of the lid 0, in which we secure an upright standard, g, the upper end of which comes flush with the upper surface of the bar. The rear end-of the lever E is bifurcated, so as to admit the upper end of the standard g between the two sides, after which the lever and standard are secured together by a rivet in the manner of making an ordinary rivet-joint. A flat spring, 45, has one end secured to the free end of the lever E, so that it will lay upon the lever, and extend back so as to bear upon the upper end of the standard g, and thus serve to press the lever downward with a The lid 0 is channeled upon its upper side in a line with the lever E, so that the lever will lie in the channel. At the outer end of this channel is a recess, 0, deeper than the main body of the channel, and on the under side of the outward extremity of the lever E a shallow catch or notch, S, is

made, which will hook over the edge of the recess 0 when the lid is raised, and thus hold it open. This spring-lever serves, therefore, to hold the lid firmly in place when it is down, and also to retain it in its open position when raised, so as to leave the bumpers in position to separate as soon as the cars start up; but the spring can be dispensed with, if desired, and only the hinged lever used when it is desired to only provide an attachment for bold ing the lid in a raised position.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat cut is- The hinged lever E, with or without the spring, and having the catch or notch S on the under side of its outer end, in combina tion with the hinged and channeled lid 0 having the recess 0, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof we hereunto set ourhands and seals.

FRANK F. TAYLOR. [L. s.] GEORGE WITHINGTON. [L. s.']

Witnesses R. LUDGATE, JOHN L. BOONE. 

